


Invention and Necessity

by NebulousMistress



Series: Sides of the Same Coin [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Maternal Instincts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-18
Packaged: 2017-12-12 06:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulousMistress/pseuds/NebulousMistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inventing a device like the Plasmius Maximus requires intelligence, cunning, testing, and someone to bounce ideas off of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Talking to the Mirror

Vlad wasn't a fruitloop.

He wasn't. People talked to themselves all the time. Intelligent people, well-spoken people, influential people. They all discussed ideas with the mirror, ranted to empty rooms, tossed theories into the mindless ether and pulled from it the answers of the universe.

Of course none of them could claim to do it quite like this.

Vlad glared at his spectral duplicate as though he could somehow lay upon him the blame for this latest idea.

"You really think it's a good idea?" Vlad asked.

Plasmius merely gave his human duplicate a look to convey how unimpressed he was with the situation.

"Right," Vlad said. "But how do we go about this? And most importantly how do we make sure this isn't used against us at some point? Stripping a half-ghost of his powers, no matter how temporary, is still a dangerous proposition."

"We don't," Plasmius said. "We want it to work, not fizzle out in a blast of failure. We'll need to test it."

Vlad went rigid at that idea before slumping over with a groan. "Not testing again," he pleaded.

"How else are we going to make sure it works?"

"Last time we testing something on ourselves we ended up spending three days in a thermos or don't you remember?"

Plasmius grinned, fangs glinting in the light. Vlad could feel red eyes trailing up and down his form. "I remember we found **some** thing to pass the time."

Vlad made a slight 'eep' sound and fought off the urge to squirm. He cleared his throat. "You just want to test something on me again," he accused, his voice much less sure of itself now.

Plasmius sauntered closer, watching as Vlad backed up into a lab bench. Vlad's eyes darted back and forth, searching for a way out. Instead he found black gloved hands on either side of him, pinning him in place. "On the contrary," Plasmius purred. "I think you're the one who wants to experiment."

Plasmius popped out of sight, the duplicate merging with the whole. The disorientation faded as Vlad blinked the redness out of his vision. Experimenting on himself with his own inventions wasn't **that** bad of an idea. He knew his Ghost Stinger was based on a targeted flare of electrical power. Maybe he could build off of that. First thing he would need was a source of electricity, preferably hand-held...

Ooo. Vlad purred in anticipation as he started searching. Now where did he hide that taser...


	2. The Plasmius Maximus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes a lot of balls to test something designed to strip a half-ghost's powers on yourself.

Deep breath.

No, can't do it.

Okay, try again. Deep breath. Finger on the button.

Neon green spark. Spark settled into a piercing glow on the device.

Can't do it.

Have to do it. No other way. Deep breath.

Two stabbing prongs. Almost imperceptible whine of the battery losing charge. Have to do it.

Deep breath.

Two prongs just touched skin.

Piercing scream. Head thrown back as muscles spasm in agony. Not like electricity, not warm and tingling and massaging like electricity. No, like claws. Like falling.

No, not **like** falling. Actually falling. Hello, floor. Cold, hard floor soothing the burning claw gouges. Wonderful floor but it doesn't stop the falling. Falling back into the depths of the mind. Not in control anymore. Nothing there. What's going on?

So tired.

Sleep. No, can't sleep. Have to make sure it worked. Have to see if it worked. Don't want to do that again.

What if it doesn't wear off?

No, no, can't think that. It'll wear off. It has to. Three hours, all the simulations said three hours.

Ugh. Feels like being sat on by an elephant. Can't take deep breaths. Feel so heavy. So weak.

So this is what it's like to feel human.

I'd forgotten.


	3. Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running scared for three hours was not an option. Vlad was no one's prey.

Vlad Masters ran for his life.

Under the circumstances he could have allowed himself to dwell on the night's failures. Maddie rejecting him quite soundly. Daniel luring him in with lies and deceit to snap this torturous device around his waist. Being on the receiving end of his own invention's stinging bite. Reduced to running from his creations lest they decide to carry out their training and flay tender flesh from living bone at their first opportunity. If he were really feeling self-defeating he might entertain the notion that Jack Fenton somehow managed to defend himself properly while he was reduced to running like a prey animal.

He might have allowed himself to think these things if he weren't running for his life.

His lungs screamed with all the force his voice was unable to carry. His legs burned with an agonizing fire almost as horrible as the sting of the Plasmius Maximus. Still he ran, hearing all too well the snorts and growls of the beasts that chased him.

He heard the snap before he felt the pain. He saw himself falling before he registered the movement. It took a second for him to realize he could no longer run. Vlad's eyes darted around, looking for something to defend himself with. A few errant sticks, a fallen log, and the traitorous rock mocking him from the dirt. He turned over though he didn't know why. Maybe he could use his arms to protect himself for a moment. Maybe they would respond to the sight of a neck upturned in submission. Maybe...

Maybe they were just going to kill him and be done with it. The first of the lot, a monster that might once have been a rabbit, grabbed at Vlad's sprained ankle and pulled. The world went white for a moment as Vlad screamed in pain. That pain slowly ebbed, returning his eyesight as he watched the mutant rabbit licking its paw like it had been burned. He... wasn't dead yet. He still had a chance then. Vlad hauled himself to his feet and gritted his teeth against the pain in his ankle. The rabbit growled at him before leaping again.

The rabbit landed on Vlad's chest, shoving him back onto the ground. It raised a paw and unsheathed long black claws before something... happened.

The distinct sound of an electrical discharge danced in Vlad's ears right before the rabbit screamed and scrambled off of him.

Crashing through the undergrowth heralded the arrival of more of them. Vlad pulled himself to his feet as they crouched, eyes narrowing and maws drooling. Yet...

A feral grin spread across Vlad's face as he realized. This device that Daniel entrapped him in... His pets couldn't touch him without experiencing pain, same as it had caused him pain, same as Daniel had been less than willing to grapple with him in their fight. Ah, Daniel. The boy probably didn't realize that he'd left his enemy in possession of a rather potent weapon.

Vlad crouched down as well, hands splaying in an imitation of the claws his pets brandished. He allowed his own growl to fall from his lips, an elegant purr surrounded by harsh wild snarls.

Vlad Masters would **not** lose to a bunch of mutated prey animals. Not today.


End file.
